In our second year of grant-giving, 1988, Dr. Herbert Meltzer received a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grant to test his idea that clozapine might be a good option as a “second generation” antipsychotic medication in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Clozapine was approved for use in patients with resistant schizophrenia in 1989 by the FDA and led to the development of a new class of “atypical” antipsychotics that effectively treat millions of patients today.

In the early 2000s, Dr. Meltzer further demonstrated that clozapine can also be used to reduce the risk of suicide in patients with schizophrenia.